I helped a bus driver today :)

[S78 via Hylan]

Earlier this evening, I was coming from Brooklyn and I got out of Bowling Green after riding on the . I went to the South Ferry Terminal only to find out that there was no ferry service running, so I took the X17 to the Eltingville Transit Center where I got a connection with the S74 going towards the ferry.

 

On Arthur Kill Road, most of the block had no power, so the driver had to reroute to Richmond Av, to Amboy Rd, then to Hylan Blvd. At first, he didn't know where to go, so I decided to help him out with directions. Eventually, we got back to Richmond Rd and continued the regular route to the ferry. He really thanked me.

[B35 via Church]

Cool beans, bro... Good lookin out :tup: ...

some passengers would've let him have it... i.e. "you're the bus driver & you don't know your route", yada yada yada...

 

 

I've also helped out a few bus drivers w/ routings.... quick story....

 

ironically, the last time I helped out a b/o was also out in Staten Island... but it was on the x31 (coming from manhattan)... IIRC, she said something about being an "extra", and how she normally does the x10, the x11... and the x22 on occasion... as she was talking, I thought to myself, those are castleton routes... I was more focused on getting to the transit ctr. so I could catch the 79...

 

she absolutely flew going down the new jersey turnpike... out of the expresses that run via new jersey, to this day, that was the fastest ride I ever been on (I didn't tell her that), NJT buses over the turnpike I've been on, inclusive...

funny in that, she even made a remark about leadfooting it out... I had to laugh there...

 

anyway, she got confused around the SI mall area... and which side she needed to take when pulling into ETC... I helped her out on both counts, and that was that... it is a good feeling when you help ppl. out like that... b/o's like her are the reason I enjoy riding buses - b/o's are some of the coolest ppl. you'll ever meet, given the strenousness of their jobs... I don't know how they do it...

 

this particular occurrence was almost a year ago...

my long term memory is great... short term, not so much... lol...

[Fresh Pond]

Congrats bro :tup:

[Grand Concourse]

Good job :tup: Not only that, it's your ride too. If you didn't speak up, lord knows where you might've ended up instead of simply a longer detour.

[Princelex]

That's awesome bro! Major props to you! :tup:

[Bill from Maspeth]

More than once lately since the Q67 has become a LGA route, I've helped out a few of those operators coming home from work too.

[LRG]

Excellent job! :tup:

And interesting story B35!

[S78 via Hylan]

Thanks guys!

[KNIGHTRIDER3:16]

(W)ell Deputy ,You did A nice favor for this Bus Op ,(H)owever he should of called ©ommand first just to make sure .

(D)on't get me wrong you meant well but if (S)omething happened with that little detour then the Bus Op would of got hung .(T)hanks for helping out A fellow B/O:tup: <R>

[ciboii22]

Nice For Helping a B.o .

[DOB2RTO]

(W)ell Deputy ,You did A nice favor for this Bus Op ,(H)owever he should of called ©ommand first just to make sure .

(D)on't get me wrong you meant well but if (S)omething happened with that little detour then the Bus Op would of got hung .(T)hanks for helping out A fellow B/O:tup: <R>

 

Exactly. That is why it is best to work in an area you know, or if you don't and you have the time and a car, drive around to see possible detours just in case you ever need one. Have to make sure of street size, dead ends, height clearances, and if you can get back on route.........

 

But he did do a good thing by helping out a B/O. I remember when I was put on a route I mostly knew (Bx21). I had picked out a passenger that looked helpful, and got help on where to turn after getting off of Morris Park Ave, to the end of the line. Rockland Coaches (aka Red and Tan Lines) is a riot, as they told us when I had trained there, "we can't show you all of the routes, just the busiest ones, so have a map, and ask the passengers, as they will help you cause they want to get home. But then again they might help you get them to their front door, and leave you to figure out the rest of the way by yourself".........

[Grand Concourse]

A b/o doing a run with a vintage bus [M14], took his own detour as 14th St was obstructed westbound. He told us that it would've taken too long for management to advise him about a detour. Needless to say I didn't see any other M14s behind our bus when the run was over and he leaped frogged a whole bunch of buses in the process.

[KNIGHTRIDER3:16]

A b/o doing a run with a vintage bus [M14], took his own detour as 14th St was obstructed westbound. He told us that it would've taken too long for management to advise him about a detour. Needless to say I didn't see any other M14s behind our bus when the run was over and he leaped frogged a whole bunch of buses in the process.

 

True but most (M)anhattan streets could fit a bus as I remember my School bus days around that area ,I fit down every block .If that bus op was smart he would of stayed until the Path was clear now it looks like you say he leap frogged ahead ,(N)ow he gets Hammered picking up:eek:

[Grand Concourse]

Very true on all those points. And fortunately he only picked up maybe 5-7 people. I guess it's since the West Side wasn't a destination for most people and that it was near the end of rush hour.

I forgot exactly where, but I think it was maybe 3rd Av or Madison Av where the obstruction was. But one thing was for sure, the way he handled those turns - the tilting almost felt like riding a CNG RTS Hang on tight!

[QM1to6Ave]

Any time I hear a re-routing announcement over the bus's radio, the dispatcher always adds in "call me in the office if you need help." I always wondered if the B/O that actually calls in is made fun of or whatever later.

[aemoreira81]

To the original poster---that was your good deed for the day. As for myself, back in the early 2000s when the entire SIR was being bustituted, the driver missed a fork in the road (taking the wrong way), and I had to jump out to help the bus back up and onto the correct road; he realized his mistake just barely past it.

[Fresh Pond]

More than once lately since the Q67 has become a LGA route, I've helped out a few of those operators coming home from work too.

 

I thought I was the only one that did that. Espically that part down Borden Av after Greenpoint and it gotta make that hard right cuz the 1st right leads to the Kosciuszko Br. Many B/O's made that mistake after the switch to LGA.

Then there was one time the driver I had was a put-in for the last bus for the night (23:10) and he didn't know the line at all. So I basically told him turn by turn

[engineerboy6561]

I've wound up doing that sort of thing twice before. The first time, I was coming home on the Bx10 and the B/O (I guess he was new) turned up onto Sedgwick Av at Van Cortlandt Park S instead of down onto the hill. I didn't know if it was safe to do a U-turn there because the road was somewhat narrow, so two other passengers and I led him along Sedgwick to Ft. Independence St. There we got lucky because we caught up to a 238 St-bound Bx3, so we had him follow that bus to 238 and then turn left at Bailey. The other time I was on the shuttle bus on the day it ran to Queensbridge. The B/O was a veteran on the Brooklyn shuttle circuit, but this was his second or third time doing the shuttle and his first time going north of Queens Plaza. He gave me the sheet with directions on it that dispatch gave him and I navigated for him by the seat of my pants. I got lucky and we made it around the loop the first try. One other time, I had picked up a northbound Bx10 at Paul Av and 205 St and the B/O went straight on Paul instead of making the left onto 205 St. I had just gotten up to ask if everything was OK when an older man in an uniform with a clipboard did a facepalm, told me to sit down, and started berating the B/O for missing the turn. He then managed to get the B/O back on route by simply making a left at Mosholu and following the Bx1 route to Dickinson. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if it is normal procedure to send a new B/O out with a veteran his or her first few runs?